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Outrageous Betrayal: The Real Story of Werner Erhard from Est to Exile Hardcover – January 1, 1993

by Steven Pressman (Author)

3.8 53 ratings

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Outrageous Betrayal the Dark Journey of Werner Erhard from Est to Exile
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As the founder of a human-potential movement known as "est," which stood for Erhard Seminars Training, Erhard in the 1970s and 1980s attracted hundreds of thousands of followers who sat through grueling sixty-hour "training" sessions that promised personal transformation and profound insights into human relationships.
But Werner Erhard was eventually plagued by problems and controversy, culminating in horrifying allegations, which he hotly disputed, that he had forced his wife to live apart from her children and sexually abused two of his daughters. Erhard also became the focus of renewed charges that his est movement had taken on some of the trappings of a cult. At the same time, the Internal Revenue Service persisted in claims that Erhard's est-related companies owed millions of dollars in back taxes. A bitter divorce battle between Erhard and his second wife further helped to fuel speculation that est's approach to personal transformation was both cruel and hollow. Finally, in early 1991, Erhard left the United States, preferring the solitude of self-imposed exile to the glare of harsh publicity.
Based on scores of interviews and an exhaustive examination of court records, testimony, and crucial documents, Outrageous Betrayal provides the first comprehensive account of Werner Erhard's meteoric rise and crashing fall.

Print length

289 pages
Language

English
Publisher

St Martins Pr
Publication date

January 1, 1993
Dimensions

6.5 x 1 x 9.5 inches
ISBN-10

0312092962
ISBN-13

978-0312092962
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Before he abandoned his wife and children, changed his name to Werner Erhard, moved to California and began promoting his self-awareness programs, known in the 1970s as est and later as the Forum, Jack Rosenberg was a car salesman in Philadelphia. Inspired by a self-help course called Mind Dynamics, by Napoleon Hill's book, Think and Grow Rich , by Scientology and cybernetics, and advised by a skilled tax lawyer, Erhard launched est in 1971. And for 20 years he reigned as guru of the "human potential movement." According to freelance journalist Pressman, the womanizing, charismatic and demanding Erhard collected tens of millions of dollars from 500,000 people who took his courses. Eventually lawsuits, desertions among his coterie and the rise of new New Age mind-improving programs ended Erhard's empire and in 1991, owing millions to the IRS and others, he went into exile in Mexico. Pressman here cuts into him with surgical precision.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Pressman, a San Francisco-based journalist, offers a compelling account of the 1980s guru who rose from selling used cars to peddling personal transformation. Erhard's dubious Est program--today known as The Forum--promises outlandish benefits in return for outlandish cash outlays. Like many of his predecessors, (notably L. Ron Hubbard, the demented fabricator of Scientology, whom Erhard briefly followed), Erhard progressed from a tireless, aggressive proselytizer to a psychotic egomaniac. Pressman skillfully documents Erhard's ascension to godlike status, and his irrevocable, shameful plummet following an episode that aired in 1991 on 60 Minutes , in which Erhard's daughter accused him of sexual abuse (a charge that Erhard allegedly deflected by characterizing it as "a nurturing experience"). Most public libraries should place this expose on the same shelves as Wendy Kaminer's I'm Dysfunctional, You're Dysfunctional ( LJ 6/1/92).
- Mark Annichiarico, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ St Martins Pr; First Edition (January 1, 1993)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 289 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0312092962
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0312092962
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.33 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.5 x 1 x 9.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,230,321 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #4,076 in Medical General Psychology
- #25,606 in Psychology & Counseling

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3.8 53 ratings

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Nelson

Compelling account of self-made multi-millionaire Guru

Reviewed in the United States on July 18, 2007

Verified Purchase

An old friend of mine recently tried to get me to attend the Landmark Forum seminar.

Unlike him, I actually researched the Landmark Education organization before doing anything and managed to avoid being brainwashed and sucked into a never ending series of expensive seminars, and volunteer work for a corporation that makes $70+ Million in profit per year. My old friend seems to be enjoying his servitude to the very Scientology-like Landmark Education and I'm sure will be curing cancer any day now.

Despite its cheesy title, this book is a real page turner that gives a reader an accurate (enough) look at the founder of the "human potential" company "est" which became Landmark Education when founder Werner Erhard (currently chilling in the Cayman Islands) had to leave the U.S. to escape the IRS and a $14 Million Dollar back taxes bill.

You get a real insightful look in this book at how the philosophy of Landmark Education's methods began and were developed. And make no mistake, Landmark Education hasn't changed. They still brainwash people and take their money. Is the "training" all bad? No. But it's nothing you couldn't get from a few good books or your own common sense, AND, you'd get to keep your friends and family in the process.

Does Landmark Education ever make mention of "est" or even the founder Werner Erhard these days? Nope.

I really enjoyed this book and I'm still waiting for my old friend to respond to my numerous emails so I can talk to him about it.

45 people found this helpful

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henry j melito

where is my Hunger Project money?????? Dammmmmiiiittt

Reviewed in the United States on October 2, 2013

Verified Purchase

This is why the forum lost its place as a real quality work-----like gold mixed with poop--or cooking fettuccine with cat pee

11 people found this helpful

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Readsalot

Shocking!!!!!

Reviewed in the United States on February 26, 2006

Verified Purchase

This is a "must read" for anyone considering becoming involved with the Landmark group as well as anyone who has loved ones involved. I am an avid reader and usually speed through everything I read. After reading the Prologue and first two chapters, I put the book down to digest what I had read. The writer cuts right to the quick giving documented background of how the 70s guru, Erhard, came to be. Erhard aka Jack Rosenberg, is the epitome of the "used car salesman" and this book documents how he turned those skills into a multi million dollar business, creating havoc in many lives along the way and managing to stay one step ahead of incarceration. The facts revealed about his personal life clearly explain how his "technology" has managed to bind countless people searching for meaning.

It is amazing how disciples of this LGAT program exhibit "cult like" devotion in ignoring the facts and making disparaging comments about this book. The truth HURTS, however it can also "set you free". READ THIS BOOK AND BE SET FREE!!

46 people found this helpful

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Michael C.

ASSASINATION BY SOUR GRAPES

Reviewed in the United States on January 29, 2007

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I find it interesting but predictable that Werner Erhard has often been described as a "used car salesman" (when he was in his twenties-like we all had great jobs then, right?) but never as someone who went on to become a lauded executive of a Fortune 500 Company before his founding of EST. Just an unbiased, unintended oversight, I imagine.

I also find it almost amusing that serious consideration was not given to hundreds of thousands of EST and Landmark alumni from some of the world's most respected disciplines and vocations including educators, clergy, business executives, medical and psychiatric professionals, philosophers, government leaders, etc. who have praised and then recommended first the EST and then the Landmark Education programs to others. If one is to believe Steven Pressman they must all be stupid, duped, gullible fools, unlike him, upon whom Erhard simply would not put one over.

That Mr. Pressman was not interested in finding the well documented contributions of Werner Erhard to millions world wide (The Hunger Project, etc.) should not stop anyone else from doing so.

Since my first experience of EST in 1981, there is not one day that goes by that I don't use something I learned from the Werner Erhard programs I attended. Of course it helped that I, unlike this author, did not have a glaringly obvious bias starting out.

So I can believe my own experience and those of hundreds of thousands of others who say they have benefited greatly by their course participation, or I can buy into this author's subjective misrepresentation of Erhard and his long lasting, proven programs. As someone who became a CEO, best selling business book author, successful parent and contented human being, I make no apologies for crediting very much of what I have to Werner Erhard's work. Easy choice.

134 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Very useful information. The writer's research capability is outstanding

Reviewed in the United States on November 3, 2016

Verified Purchase

Very useful information. The writer's research capability is outstanding...The writer's bias makes this a tougher read. If you want to know much more of the 'inside' information about EST and the early years of this remarkable opportunity...this book is priceless. The citing of legal testimony and court dates and records allows for a relative non-spin of those early years of EST that overtime morphed into Landmark Worldwide. Most interesting for those of us who were there in those early years and participated a great deal. I still do in Landmark...a remarkable resource that has survived its start up phase.
The writer's incredible slant/bias/opinion that is injected into this information is unfortunate. His need to tell the reader his opinion of what we are reading - sucks - and detracts from the value of the research work performed.

13 people found this helpful

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